Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am happy to support this motion and I commend Sinn Féin on bringing it forward. Like every other part of our health services now, the ambulance service is in crisis. I wonder at this stage if it is deliberate on the part of the Government. Is it preparation for privatisation that we are seeing in such inaction across the board? It is rule 101 in the privatisation book that one runs down services so much that citizens will accept anything as a solution, including that the private operators will surely do it better, except they do not and ultimately what they do it is more expensive as well. Some people have said the problem is simply the Government trying to live within totally unrealistic budgetary constraints. I cannot figure out which is worse at the moment.

It is shocking to see that the workforce plan outlines the service will need 1,300 more paramedics to meet demand by the end of 2024. In Donegal, we need three extra ambulances and crews to meet the need we have. Killybegs ambulance station definitely needs another crew on duty. A call-out to Glencolmcille can barely meet the call-out requirements when there is a crew based in Killybegs, never mind if that crew is covering Donegal town and is based there, as often happens. Extra crews are needed in Inishowen and Letterkenny or Ballybofey.

The queuing of ambulances at Letterkenny University Hospital is continuing but now the ambulance service has employed someone to try to move them on. The hospital is unable to take patients quickly enough. The impact of this is that it delays ambulances at the hospital. Paying the cost of another officer will not solve the problem as far as I can see. The manager of Letterkenny University Hospital told a meeting recently that 70% of the ambulances were moved out within one hour - or some similar time - but the problem is the 30% of ambulances that take hours to get back and then be rostered again.

One good development to emerge over the last few years has been the community paramedic. This person diverts patients from casualty and enables many patients to remain at home by giving a higher level of care in the community. This role needs to be rolled out on a service-wide basis. It would actually save money overall for the health services. A patient who can be treated without going to casualty is the cheapest patient in the health service. One would think the bean counters in the HSE and Department of Health would at least see that.

The Government response to the motion appears to recognise some of this but that is hard to make out from the gobbledygook. Maybe that is part of the problem. They speak in tongues and no one understands what the intention is.

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